Growing food creates community

I was wonderfully surprised by and article in the September edition of Good Housekeeping (UK) and left with a lovely warm glow.  A while back I wrote a post about urban gardening and how you can grow your own vegetables wherever you live.  Well a small town in England has taken it a whole lot further.

Pam Warhurst was on her way home to Todmorden in Yorkshire after attending a talk on how all of us impact on our living spaces.  She has lived in this old mill town for 40 years and was feeling as if it was losing out over time and becoming less than it had been in the past.  So she got to thinking about what she could do to change it and bring it back together.  Pam wanted to make the other residents care about their town and bring it back to life.  On that train ride home she had the idea of planting fruit and vegetables on pieces of land that weren't being used for anything at all.  Together with her friend Mary Clear they plotted the plan for Incredible Edible Todmorden.  The plan was to encourage the whole community to plant fruit and vegetables around the town, they drew up a rota to look after the plots and everyone and anyone could pick the produce.

They took it to a public meeting where there were more than 60 people willing to listen.  Once they had finished their presentation the whole lot erupted into cheers!  In 2007 with an army of volunteers they stared planting on empty spaces - any empty spaces.  Now you will find tomatoes along the towpath, strawberries outside the college and herbs on the station platform, there are even sweetcorn cobs outside the police station!

However, the free, homegrown veg wasn't the only wonderful thing happening in Todmorden.  Thanks to Incredible Edible Todmorden, the town is buzzing with activity, the schools are also involved - which in my opinion is very important, neighbors who didn't talk to each other previously are now best of friends and "the feeling of community is really special" says Pam.  The police have even stated that crime is down since the project started!

Pam says that at the beginning people were a bit shy about picking the produce but now you can collect your dinner on the way home from the station!

The project has revived an old town, brought its residents together in a united effort, one has even found romance, another her voice and her confidence, children are being taught about where their food comes from and how to tend to it.  This is such a positive community orientated project that just makes me so happy and wishing that more things like this would happen.

It is up to us to invest in our communities and as Pam says in the article, everyone likes to eat and mealtimes were traditionally a way of families getting together and sharing their days, so what better way to bring that back than around a food based project.  What's more an incredible business has arisen with visitors coming to see the town and homemade jams and other products on sale.

Congratulations to Incredible Edible Todmorden and all the residents who have labored with love on the vegetable plots and fruit orchards.  It really is an incredible project!  What can you do for your community?

You can check out more:

http://www.incredible-edible-todmorden.co.uk/

I can help you improve your health.  If you would like to make an appointment with me either in person or via Skype, just send me an email to lucycarr@socialnutrition.com 

Aloe Vera vs Coconut Water

Coconut water has been promoted as the must-have drink of 2013 by celebrities of the likes of Madonna, for its super-hydrating properties, a habit many have taken on board and it seems there is no slowing it down.  But it seems that coconut water is in for some stiff competition.

The benefits of coconut water:

• Coconut water is a refreshing drink to beat any thirst and has been marketed to the health conscious sports fanatics as a healthier option than commercial brands such as Gatorade or Aquarius.  Coconut water is packed with simple sugar, electrolytes and minerals to replenish hydration levels in the body after a workout.
• Studies have suggested that the cytokinins (kinetin and trans-zeatin) found in coconut water have shown significant anti-ageing, anti-carcinogenic and anti-thrombotic effects.
• Coconut water is composed of many naturally occurring bioactive enzymes such as acid phosphatase, catalase, dehydrogenase, diastase, peroxidase, RNA-polymerases, etc..  All these enzymes help during the digestive process and with metabolism.
• Even though its consistency doesn't suggest much,  coconut water is actually full of minerals such as calcium, iron, manganese, magnesium and zinc.
• Coconut water is also a good source of B vitamins such as riboflavin, niacin, thiamin, pyridoxine and folates.  
• In many tropical regions, coconut water has been given to patients with diarrhea to replace the loss of fluids from the gastrointestinal tract and therefore, reduce the need for intravenous therapy.  This is due to the high content in potassium, just 100ml of coconut water has 250mg of potassium and 106mg of sodium.  Together, these electrolytes help replenish electrolyte deficiency in the body.

The benefits of Aloe Vera:

• Aloe Vera juice is full of vitamins including A, C, E, folic acid, B1, B2, B3, B6 and is one of the few plants that contains B12 which helps with brain and nervous system function.
• It is also rich in minerals such as calcium, magnesium, zinc, chromium, selenium, sodium, iron and potassium.  It is also full of amino and fatty acids which help with overcoming indigestion and stops bloating.
• Similar to other super foods like chia seeds and seaweed, aloe vera is a gelatinous plant food and adaptogen, which boosts the body's natural ability to resist illness and also helps to eliminate toxins.
• It can also be used topically to treat psoriasis and burns.
• It helps with promoting immunity, cleansing and good skin health.
• Aloe Vera has often been used to help with the symptoms of Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), and has also been shown to help with acid reflux.

So which one are you going to go for?

I can help you improve your health.  If you would like to make an appointment with me either in person or via Skype, just send me an email to lucycarr@socialnutrition.com 

Junk food can re-wire your brain!

Scientists have discovered 2 important things recently in 2 different studies which have been found to be related.

The first is that a diet full of burgers, fries, sweets and pies could re-wire your brain and kill our appetite for healthy foods.  Scientists in Australia discovered that living on junk food not only makes rats fat, but also suppresses their desires to eat a balanced diet.  Those scientists believe their findings help explain how excessive consumption of unhealthy foods can change a persons behavior, weaken self-control and lead to overeating and obesity.

The team from the University of New South Wales taught young rats to associate each of two different sound cues with a particular flavor of sugar water - cherry and grape.  Rats raised on a healthy diet stopped responding to cues linked to a flavor in which they had recently over indulged.  This natural mechanism, widespread in animals, protects against overeating and helps promote a healthy, balanced diet.

However, after 2 weeks eating a daily diet rich in cafeteria foods including pie, dumplings, cookies and cake - with 150% more calories, the rats' weight increased by 10%.

The researchers also noted that at the same time their behavior had also changed dramatically.  They became indifferent in their food choices and no longer avoided the sound cues advertising the over familiar taste.  This lead to the deduction that this indicated the rats had lost their natural preference for healthy foods.  The researchers noted that this change lasted for some time after the rats were given a healthy diet.

The team concluded that a diet of junk food causes lasting changes in the reward circuit parts of the rats' brains, including the orbital-frontal cortex  - an area of the brain responsible for decision making.  These findings may have implications for humans' ability to limit their intake of certain kinds of foods, because the brain's reward circuits are similar in all mammals.

However, in The States at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University, another study has been carried out which has discovered that you can train your brain to prefer healthy foods over unhealthy foods.

"We don't start out in life loving french fries and hating, for example, whole wheat pasta," said author Susan Roberts, "This conditioning happens over time in response to eating - repeatedly, what is out there in the toxic food environment."

At Tufts, researchers studied 13 overweight and obese men and women, 8 of whom were participants in a new weight loss program designed by Tufts University researchers and 5 who were in a control group and were not enrolled in the program.

Both groups underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) brain scans at the beginning and end of a 6 month period.

The diet they followed was portion-controlled menus and recipe suggestions, with high-satiety menu plans, recipes and tip sheets provided by the researchers.

The menu plans had a specific dietary composition profile that combined low-glycemic index carbohydrates with higher fiber and higher protein - that is, foods with a slower digestion profile and reduced spikes in blood glucose that theoretically could reduce hunger.

The menu plans provided approximately 25% energy from protein and fat, and 50% from low-glycemic index carbohydrates and contained 40g of dietary fiber per day.

The dieters also received nineteen 60 minute didactic and support group sessions over the 6 month period.  In addition to the group sessions, the participants also received a weekly email from their nutritionist for individual support.

Among those who participated in the weight loss program, the brain scans revealed changes in the areas of the brain reward center associated with learning and addiction.  After 6 months, this area had increased sensitivity to healthy, lower calorie foods, indicating an increased reward and enjoyment of healthier food cues.

So, junk food can re-wire your brain to prefer unhealthy food options, but you can also retrain your brain to prefer healthier food options.  Now that's good news!

I can help you improve your health.  If you would like to make an appointment with me either in person or via Skype, just send me an email to lucycarr@socialnutrition.com 

Low Fat or Low Carb?

For years and years and years we have been told that fats are deadly.  They apparently cause heart attacks and obesity, especially animal fats.  In 1977 the McGovern report stated that animal fats were not recommended and that vegetable oils and margarines should be used instead.  Well, we all know what that caused... a huge increase in heart disease and obesity.

We now know today, that margarines for instance, are full of deadly trans fats and that eating animal fat doesn't actually do much harm at all.  Also our supermarkets are packed full with products screaming LOW FAT or NO FAT, from the packaging.  These products are usually packed full of sugar instead.  The dietary guidelines (the food pyramid or my plate) recommend basing your diet on grains... this is meant to be interpreted as whole grains, however, most people tend to interpret white bread, pasta, etc.. But which ever way you interpret that information, basing the diet on carbs is just wrong.  However, having said that carbohydrates seem to be getting a raw deal lately with a gluten free diet being in fashion - especially in Hollywood.

So, here I want to specify what a GOOD carbohydrate is - we all know which are the bad ones; white bread, pasta, anything with refined flour in it...  But there are many naturally occurring carbohydrates in healthy foods which are good for you.  But first you have to understand is that carbohydrates are not an essential part of your diet.  If you never ate carbohydrates ever again, you would be healthy.  Unlike fats... there are essential fats such as Omega-3 and essential proteins (amino acids), if you didn't get enough of these then you would not be feeling at all well.

Good Carbohydrates are found almost exclusively in plant foods such as vegetables, beans, whole grains, fruit, nuts and seeds.  This type of carb are important, they include high levels of vitamins and minerals, fiber, and plant compounds that have healing properties called phytonutrients, or phytochemicals.  These are medicinal molecules such as curcumin in turmeric, glucosinolates in broccoli, anthocyanidins in berries and black rice, for example.  However, the focus should be on slow carbs.  Slow carbs are the ones that release their glycemic load slowly into the bloodstream and do not cause spikes in glucose levels which in turn cause insulin to be released by the pancreas.

So, which plants are the best?

Eat as much as you like:

Slow burning, low glycemic vegetables such as broccoli, asparagus, spinach, chard, kale, cabbage, bok choy, etc..  You can eat as much of these as you like, in fact your whole diet should be based on them.  Sea weed is another one that is great for you.  Try Kombu, nori, hijiki, and wakame, they are all very high in minerals, protein and healing compounds.

Eat a moderate amount:

Whole grains, and I mean whole; black, brown and red rice, quinoa, amaranth, buckwheat, and teff are all delicious and all gluten free.  Legumes are fiber-rich, phytonutrient-rich and are not used enough.  You all know what they are, lentils, chickpeas, yellow split peas, soybeans - especially edamame, pinto beans, navy beans, adzuki beans, etc..

Dark berries such as blueberries, cherries, blackberries and raspberries are packed full of phytonutrients.  The richer in color the better they are for you.  Fruits with stones in their center such as peaches, nectarines, plums, etc., these are fiber rich.  Apples and pears are also great.

Fiber stabilizes blood sugar by slowing the absorption of carbohydrates, this is why you should always eat the whole fruit and not just the juice.  The fibre in fruit helps slow the absorption of the sugar.

Limit these carbs:

Starchy, high-glycemic cooked vegetables including winter squashes, peas, potatoes, corn, and all other root vegetables.  These vegetables raise blood sugar quickly and have a high-glycemic load, eat only occasionally.

There are also fruits that are high in sugar such as melons, grapes and pineapple.

All other PROCESSED CARBS should be avoided at all times.

As I said before; fat is essential to our bodies.  Fats make up our cell walls, if you don't get enough or you eat too much of the wrong type, you will not have the right building materials for healthy cell membranes.  Omega-3 fats are perfect for cell regeneration.

Good Fats:

Wild cold-water fish or sustainably raised cold-water fish such as wild salmon, sardines, herring,
halibut, etc.,  Eat avocados and olives these are great sources of monounsaturated fats.  Use extra virgin olive oil, rich in anti-inflammatory and antioxidant phytochemicals.  However, olive oil should not be used for high temperature cooking.  Walnut oil is another good one for salad dressings.  Coconut oil is one of my personal favorites, it can be used in high temperature cooking and contains lauric acid, a
powerful anti-inflammatory fat.

Grass-fed animals having been raised on a diet of foods natural to their breed have healthier fat profiles than factory farmed animals.

So, eat the right carbs and base your diet on plants and make sure your animal protein is the best type in order to get top quality nutrition.

I can help you improve your health.  If you would like to make an appointment with me either in person or via Skype, just send me an email to lucycarr@socialnutrition.com